FDA FERN Cooperative Agreement Program Funding Opportunity Announcement Number RFA-FD-15-019 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 93.448 PROJECT SUMMARY The Pennsylvania Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories (BOL) will continue a cooperative agreement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the FDA Food Emergency Response (FERN) Cooperative Agreement Program. The BOL will participate in Track 1 of the cooperative agreement which involves the analysis of food and food-related samples to identify contamination by microorganisms and toxins. The BOL?s participation will provide expanded laboratory capacity to FERN which will allow for the analysis of greater numbers of samples, small-scale methods development, method validations, and matrix extension projects. FERN will provide funding for personnel and testing supplies and will supply samples, test procedures, and opportunities for training and proficiency testing. The BOL will maintain the capacity to test a minimum of 100 samples over a two-week period and a minimum of 500 samples per year. Page 1 of 1